Kyle MacDonald Blogs & Barters From a Paper Clip to a House

Blogger Kyle MacDonald set out on a mission with a red paper clip and a dream of turning it into a house by trading up along the way.  MacDonald, a blogger from Montreal, has now achieved that goal with a little help from Craigslist.

AP reports that on Wednesday the quest is ending as envisioned.

MacDonald, 26, is due to become the owner of a three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot house provided by the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan, in central Canada. MacDonald and his girlfriend, Dominique Dupuis, expect to move there in early September.

"This is such a cool community project. It feels right," MacDonald said. "And now that I think about it, I can't believe that another small town didn't think of it. It will literally put them on the map."

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MacDonald advertised in the barter section of the Craigslist Web site that he wanted something bigger or better for one red paper clip. He traded it for a fish-shaped pen, and posted on Craigslist again and again.

And then they told two friends and then they told two friends and then former LA Law star Corbin Bernsen got involved.

Bernsen contacted him to say he was writing and directing a movie and would offer a paid speaking role as an item available for trade.  In a round about way, MacDonald finally traded for the role with Bernsen for a KISS snow globe.

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MacDonald writes on his blog:

Now, I'm sure the first question on your mind is "Why would Corbin Bernsen trade a role in a film for a snow globe? A KISS snow globe." Well, Corbin happens to be arguably one of the biggest snow globe collectors on the planet.

So next up, trade the movie role for a house in Kipling Saskatchewan Canada.

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He writes: "We've got a house."

It's "official." I'm going to trade one movie role for one house with the town of Kipling Saskatchewan. But nothing's official until Dom and I go to Kipling and shake hands with the Mayor. Dom and I will be in Kipling on Wednesday July 12th to shake hands with the mayor of Kipling, Pat Jackson, and Bert Roach, Kipling's community development officer...and probably a whole bunch of other people as well.

Then it'll be official - without the quotation marks. (Funny enough, I actually held my hands over my head and did those "quotation mark" thingy's when I typed out the word "official" the first time. Please don't ask me how I managed to type the word "official" with my hands over my head. Unlike trading one red paperclip for a house, I still have no idea how I did it.) Anyhow, this is gonna be so much fun.

We're going to seal the deal on July 12th - exactly one year to the day I put a picture of one red paperclip on this site.

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The whole story and journey can be found here on MacDonald's blog.

--Josh Hart