You can find plenty of treasures at yard sales, but the clothing racks are where you can find the best deals … and try out new fashions.

The best deals you can find at yard sales are on clothes. Compared to most other yard sale fodder, clothing are among the least expensive items and in the best condition. That means you get more bang for your buck.
Even better, most fashions you find at yard sales aren’t necessarily out of style. Sure they might be a few years old, but unless you are completely on top of the trends, buying your clothing at a yard sale isn’t exactly a fashion faux pas.
Deal or not, we have some tips and reminders for buyers as they sort through the racks of clothing at their neighborhood yard sales.

• CHECK THE CONDITION: Check for tears, holes and stains. Also check along the seams of clothes to see if they have split. In pants, don’t forget to check the pockets for holes.
• SMELL IT: We’re quite picky about how our clothes smell, so we always take a whiff of any clothes we’re buying at a yard sale. If it smells smokey, mothbally or animaly, we usually pass it up. (We also smell furniture for the same reason!)
• SIZE IT: Remember nearly all the clothes at a yard sale have already been laundered. They might very well fit a bit more snug than something directly from a store. On the flip side, you will know that the clothes your getting won’t shrink any more. If you can try it on and it fits, then it’s not going to change. (We advise you not to try on anything that would require you to disrobe, even if they offer a changing area.)
• CHANGE ITS FUNCTION: When you look at some piece of clothing at a yard sale, remember that you can use it in a slightly different way than it was intended. Would a that shirt look better as an underlayer? Can you cut that skirt into a scarf or headwrap? Could you turn those jeans into cutoffs?
• COSTUME: If you’re thinking far enough ahead, you might be able to hunt down clothes for use in a Halloween costume. Also, yard sales are a great place to go shopping for that mid-December Ugly Sweater Party. You can also use yard sales to stock up on items for your kids’ dress-up play.
• FOR THE KIDS: Buying yard-sale clothes for your kids can be huge help to your budget. Because kids grow so fast most kids clothes have very little wear and tear to them.
• GO CRAZY: When you’re at a full-priced retail store, you tend to buy clothes made of fabrics that you are familiar with, in colors you love and with comfortable designs. When you go yard sale shopping, you certainly can keep buying the same styles, but we suggest  you use yard sales to experiment with all of these fashion choices. Pick up a few colors you don’t usually wear. Go ahead and buy that sweater made out of strange animal hair. Buy a design you’re sure you’ll hate. Maybe you’ll end up liking it!
• WHEN YOU GET HOME: Throw those clothes right into the wash. Don’t waste any time doing it. Chances are the previous owner had them washed too, but this will help erase any doubts you may have.

Mother Nature delivered a wonderful weekend to hit the yard sale circuit and we opted to take a different approach this weekend. Instead of sticking to our home base in York County, we took a road trip and visited some sales in Dauphin and Cumberland counties.
That being said, we didn’t hit as many yard sales as we usually do.
Here are the items we picked up while out and about:

We picked up this $5 stool because it has a nice weathered look and it happens to match our couch perfectly.

We spent $2 on this double set of hurricane candle holders. They were new in the box, and they already have a place on our table. To the left of the candle holders are two packages of clear “media baggies” which we’ll be using to store jewelry and other small-sized collectibles.

It’s going to be a great weekend for yard sales. York County’s forecast calls for lots of sun and warm temperatures. Perfect for getting out and looking at other people’s stuff, or selling your own.

Here’s our best bets for this weekend:

• The “one day only sale” at 275 Edgewood Road in Penn Oaks on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. has the typical stuff — ladies clothing, boys clothing, books and home decor. We are just wondering what “Possible Dream santas” are.
• A multi-family sale at 2870 Forrest Lane in Haines Acres on Saturday from 8 to 3. The ad says they have cleaned out “YEARS of antiques and collecting.” They’re promising mantle clocks, oil lamp, pottery and the ever-popular “so much more.” For the love of Pete, just tell us another item or two!
• The Edgewood Park community yard sale in Dover Township will be held today through Saturday starting at 8 a.m. The sale is located between Davidsburg Road and Canal Road.
• The town of Emigsville will be holding a community yard sale on Friday and Saturday from 8 to 2 each day. There will be a chicken BBQ on Saturday from 11 to 2 at the Band Hall.
• A sale at 309 Shafta Drive in Arlington Park on Saturday from 9 to 3 will be a good one for the men who love yard sales. It features hunting, fishing and dirt bike equipment, bikes, stereo equipment and truck tires. That’s a whole lotta man, indeed!

For more on these yard sales as well as the complete list, check out The York Dispatch classifieds.

CHECK OUT THE APP

Yard Sale Secrets, in conjunction with The York Dispatch and the York Newspaper Co., now has a yard sale app for iPhone and Android phones. The app helps you locate all the yard sales advertised on MediaOnePa, which includes sites in York, Hanover, Chambersburg and Lebanon. Zip to the bottom of this page for a link to the app.

TWITTER

Yep, the Yard Sale Secrets has adopted Twitter. We might only use it sporadically, but we welcome you to join us. We especially hope to use it on Saturdays (and some Fridays) when we are out on the road. Join Yard Sale Secrets on Twitter now!

MORE YARD SALE INFORMATION

Got a question for us here at Yard Sale Secrets? Or, even better, a great tip on selling or buying? Then leave a comment for us and we’ll respond in an upcoming post. We love to hear from other yard sale fanatics!

YOUR WEEKEND MISSION

If you’re hosting a yard sale this weekend, take some pictures of your event set up. We would love to see it. If you’re heading out to some sales, lets see some pictures of your loot! E-mail them to jsimcoe@yorkdispatch.com for inclusion in an upcoming Yard Sale Secrets post.

Yard sales don’t have to bore kids to death. Let them have fun by going on a scavenger hunt while you shop.

When the kids are complaining about another day of yard sale shopping, you need to give them something to do to savor the experience.
We figured why not make a scavenger hunt out of it?
Here’s what you do:

• Copy and print out this list (or just print out the blog post)
• Fill out the prizes for each level — We suggest prizes such as a tasty snack, extra TV time or a break from chores
• Hand it over to the kids
• Have them take photos (or let you know) when they find an item on the list
• At the end of your yard sale trek, add up the number of found items
• Award a prize accordingly

YARD SALE SCAVENGER HUNT

• “Found Everthing” prize ______________________
• 25-point prize ____________________________
• 20-point prize ____________________________
• 15-point prize ____________________________
• 10-point prize ____________________________

As we go to yard sales today, can you find the following items? Each item is worth one point toward your prize package!

1. Collectible fast-food cups _________
2. Toy you use to own (mom or dad must verify!) _________
3. Ice cube tray _________
4. Skateboard _________
5. Sports equipment for a game you have played _________
6. Sports equipment for a game you haven’t played _________
7. Tire for sale (that’s not attached to something else) _________
8. Something that’s completely orange _________
9. National Geographic magazine _________
10. Packet of hangers (for sale, not attached to clothing) _________
11. “As Seen On TV” (or similar statement) on a package _________
12. Wooden barrel _________
13. Clear glass cup or vase _________
14. Book older than your parent _________
15. Piece of wood painted green _________
16. Scooby Doo _________
17. Pokemon, Magic or other collectible game card _________
18. Homemade version of a popular/well-known character _________
19. Dartboard _________
20. Singing fish _________
21. Christmas album in record format _________
22. Rusty tool _________
23. Hand-painted  ceramic statue _________
24. Artificial plant _________
25. VHS tape with a TV show on it _________
26. Tiger stripes _________
27. Aquarium rocks _________
28. California sports team logo _________
29. Harry Potter _________
30. Camouflage pants _________
31. Clown _________
32. Band logo not on a record, CD, cassette tape or disc _________
33. Unicorn _________
34. Hard hat with a sticker on it _________
35. Newspaper headline in a protective frame or sleeve _________

If you find an item that qualifies in two categories, you earn points for both!

HOW DID THEY DO?

If you do send your kids (or even yourself) on this scavenger hunt, send us a picture (or pictures) of the effort. We’ll show the world in later posts! Mail them to Yard Sale Secrets at jsimcoe@yorkdispatch.com.

It seems that the threat of rain drowned out most of last weekend’s yard sales. We quite literally traveled York County from corner to corner and only spotted a few set ups along the way.

In fact, we only actually bought one thing (aside from some clothes) while we visited the York Newspaper Company’s yard sale in West Manchester Township.

Normally, this event is positively huge. But this time? There might have been 20 vendors in total. Like we said — the threat of rain must have scared a lot of people away.

We bought this new-in-box quarter-sized guitar — made of wood and with real guitar strings — for just $5. It’s not a professional-level musical instrument, but it’s a perfect intro-level guitar for our pre-K kid. It’s also much nicer than the push-button toy guitars for sale at most toy stores.

You know what’s great? All those MIA yard sales from last weekend will make this weekend a buyer’s delight!