Kelowna woman trading a pinecone for a house

A Kelowna woman is on a mission to find her way from a pine cone to a house.

Stephanie Horman was inspired by the Red Paperclip Challenge created by Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian who started with a red paperclip and traded his way to a two-story farmhouse.

“I know it’s a really big goal, but if other people have made it, why not give it a try?” she says.

In September, Horman took part in her first trading challenge, starting with a pinecone she picked up at her child’s school.

“I gave myself just two weeks to see how much I could trade and then I donated everything I received as a final trade to the community,” she explains.

“I ended up with $10,000 worth of warm slippers and gave them to the field workers in Kelowna and they were able to redistribute them during that real cold spell in December.”

This time Horman will keep trading until she gets a house to give to the community.

“I’m not necessarily assuming it’s going to be anything in the Okanagan,” she says. “Of course that would be ideal, but I would accept a house anywhere in Canada.”

Depending on where it’s located, Horman says, she can give it to a family in need or convert it into a second-tier condominium.

“I’m really leaning on some of the frontline responders to see what we need in our community or the community where the home is found,” she explains.

Over the weekend, Horman saw someone giving away his house on Facebook Marketplace.

“The only thing is that there are a lot of obstacles because he has to remove it from his property,” she says, adding that she would need land and someone to move the house to be able to take it.

Since January 11, Horman has swapped her way from a pinecone to a bracelet to a throw pillow to a 20-year-old agave plant to a handcrafted jade turtle to a surfboard to an antique vanity set.

She adds, “I’m always looking for trades and I love anything unique.”

Anyone interested in trading can contact Stephanie Horman on Instagram or at [email protected]

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