Christmas starts early for an Ames couple, as they spend many months decorating to prepare for the Christmas season.

Harry and Barbara Budd, owners of “the Santa House”, 907 Burnett Ave., decorate their home with more than 5,000 Santa items and allow the public to tour the home during the holiday season. Admission is $3 for adults and free for ages 12 and under, with all proceeds going to Beloit Residential Treatment Center.

“[We’ve] collected for 40 years,” Barbara said. “We always decorated, but didn’t realize it was mainly Santa.”

The encouragement of family and friends persuaded the Budds to open their home to the public. The home has now been open for tours for seven years.

Every room in the house is decorated, including the bathrooms, which feature Santa toothbrushes, soap and even toilet paper. One upstairs room even has a ceiling covered in Santa wrapping paper.

Perhaps one of the most impressive parts of the home is Barbara’s collection of more than 200 versions of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” books, some of which date back to the early 1900s. Many of the books are valuable and have been featured in Better Homes and Gardens.

The home’s decorations are from the United States and countries such as the Philippines, Germany and Russia.

Although the Budds spend a lot of time looking for decorations, they also get help from friends and community members who have toured the house.

“We’ve traveled all of the states and some overseas as well,” Barbara said.

Since the home includes so many pieces, it is very time-consuming to set up each year.

“We started [decorating] the middle of August, and it takes about three months,” Barbara said. “It’s a lot of work.”

In addition to setting up each year, the Budds are working on making a record of all of their decorations.

The Budds decided they are going to take a break next year and not give tours.

“We need to get everything sorted out and know what we have,” Barbara said.

The Budds are cataloging each Santa item they own by organizing it by computer. They note any special stories that go with the item, as well as any information they know about it, such as where and when it was purchased.

This year, the owners of a local chocolate store, Temptations, 309 Main St., are helping the Budds by giving out tickets to their tours. For every $25 a customer spends in the store, he or she receives a free ticket, or two tickets for every $40 spent.

The owners of Temptations, Tim and Janice Coble, who served on a promotions board for Beloit, learned of the tours last year and wanted to do something to help.

“We were just so amazed, we started thinking about [a way to help],” Tim said. “We’re really pleased to be a part of it.”

As many people find after touring the home, it’s hard to pick a favorite part.

“There are over 5,000 items and each one is a little more amazing than the last,” Tim said. “There are some that stand out because they are very unique. It’s tough to pick just one.”

The home will be open to the public from 6 to 9 p.m. each evening from Dec. 2 to 10.

Tours are available to groups of 10 or more with a minimum $30 donation. For more information or to make a reservation, call 515-233-1635.