AMES, Iowa — More than 1,800 Christmas candles are on display at North Grand Mall in Ames for the holiday season.

Kathy Anzis of Marshalltown is the self-proclaimed “Christmas Candle Lady.” She started getting candles in the 1990s. It didn’t start as a collection, but it snowballed into one as she got more and more each year.

She started displaying her candles to the public around 13 years ago. The display began in Marshalltown and then moved to Des Moines’ Merle Hay Mall four years ago. This year, the display is at the North Grand Mall in Ames.

The 1,803 candles are showcased on 17 tables. The display is located inside the mall across from Bath and Body Works.

Anzis has a photo of each of her candles and browses through them when she purchases new ones to make sure she doesn’t buy a duplicate. All of the candles in her collection are unique.

Her friends, or as Kathy calls them, her elves, help her set up her display every year. However, this year there were scheduling difficulties and she ended up setting up the entire display on her own.

“It was nice though because I got to unwrap each candle myself and some of them have more memories than others so that’s kind of neat. I’m glad I’m done, I’m always glad I’m done. I get to just look at it and enjoy it, and hope everyone else does to or whoever wants to look at it and enjoy it… feel a little festive, get in the holiday spirit,” she said.

The candles will be on display for free at the mall until mid-January.

After the display is taken down, she will store them in her basement.