Canadian blogger turns paper clip into house

TORONTO - A Canadian man was handed the keys to a three-bedroom house today, exactly a year after he offered a red paper clip online, asking to trade it for "bigger or better" things.

In his latest trade, Kyle MacDonald, 26, swapped a bit role in a Hollywood movie for a house in the small Western Canadian town of Kipling, Saskatchewan.

When he started his quest with the paper clip, MacDonald said getting a house was his goal.

He traded in the paper clip for a fish pen and eventually moved up to an afternoon with rocker Alice Cooper before snagging the Hollywood movie role in his 14th trade.

Today, the mayor of Kipling presented MacDonald with the house in return for a role in the movie Donna on Demand, starring Corbin Bernsen.

Kipling, population 1,140, will give the role to the winner of a contest it plans to hold in September. "We're getting some very positive attention, and that never hurts any community," Mayor Pat Jackson said in a telephone interview.

Local businesses have donated housewarming gifts such as flowers and wine, and a 12-foot red paper clip has been erected in the front yard. The town plans to build "the world's largest red paper clip" at a yet-to-be-determined location.

MacDonald, who lives in Montreal, has become an internet and media sensation during his series of swaps, garnering interviews and attention from as far away as Japan.

He said on his website that he and his girlfriend will move into his new house before September and plan to throw "Saskatchewan's biggest housewarming party ever."

- REUTERS