Another yard sale weekend in the books, and this one was pretty much dominated by the Rinely community yard sale.

This vintage accordion was selling for more than $100 at the Rinely yard sale. It was on just one of the hundreds of tables of merchandise at the big event in southern York County.

We hit the streets early on Saturday, and we were a surprised by two things.

1. First, it was horribly humid. If you were outside for more than a few minutes, even early in the day, you were covered in sweat. The amazing thing was that during our “yard sale time” the temperatures never went above 82 degrees. But the humidity just made it horrible.
2. One faction of the Yard Sale Secrets team had never visited the community yard sale in the Rinely area of Stewartstown. The place was absolutely swamped. We were absolutely shocked at how busy it was and by the sheer number of sellers. The organizers really amazed us — they had strict rules for parking, food vendors and pulled together an amazing event. If you’ve never been to the Rinely sale, then you have honestly missed one of York’s greatest yard sale events.

The hardest part of the day was actually finding Rinely itself, by the way.

Rinley’s community yard sale had cars lined along the road on both sides for about a mile. Side streets were also loaded with with shopper’s cars. The event had plenty of people selling too.

WHAT WE BOUGHT

Despite venturing down to Rinely and being amazed by it, we didn’t actually buy all that much. Here’s what we picked up.

This is a close up of a lace table cloth we bought. You can often find lace products at yard sales. This piece, which was probably 3 feet in diameter, was only 50 cents. It is also far whiter than it appears in this picture!

Spring is gone, but we couldn’t resist this cute, buttoned flag.

At the left, is an unopened packet of construction paper that cost about 60 percent less than what you’d pay in a store. At right, an unopened table cloth.

A kid-sized shirt was ours for 50 cents. A new hair ribbon was just a few dollars (… and have we mentioned how often we find cute things like this at yard sales. You can credit York County’s vibrant crafting community!) Lastly, some new Mary Kay makeup was ours for a 26 percent discount.

HOW DID YOU DO?

Send us your photos and post your stories about last weekend’s yard sale events and we will feature them for Wednesday’s posts. Send us an email here or just post a comment below.

You don’t see this too often when you hit yard sales: A yard sale at the edge of cemetery. Another example of how big the Rinely sale is — they were putting vendors where ever they could fit them.

It’ll be a hot one for yard sales this weekend.  Friday looks to be 90 degrees and mostly sunny. Saturday some sun with a chance of isolated showers, and close to 90.  Not a bad forecast. After all, it is mid-summer.

Here’s our recommendations for the weekend’s shopping:

INTERESTING ITEMS

• A multi-family yard sale at 397 Wise Road in Delta offers girls English and Western show clothes. There also are boots. This one is today through Saturday from 8-5.
• If you’re looking forward to winter, check out the estate/garage sale at 1684 Camp Betty Washington Road Saturday from 9-2. These folks have a 5500-watt generator and a snowthrower, butcher and canning supplies and hunting accessories.
• Anyone out there still have a VCR? A yard sale at 2365 Manor Road in Shiloh has VHS movies. This one’s Saturday only from 8-4.

COMMUNITY SALES

• Wilshire Hills on the East End has its 10th annual yard sale, Round 2! the ad says. It’s Saturday only and starts at 8 a.m. More than 20 sales. GPS 4059 Wilshire Drive.
• The 7th annual flea market/yard sale at Winterstown Church at 12184 Winterstown Road is Friday and Saturday. More than 20 vendors.

OUR FAVES

Every year, we love this sale:  ENTIRE VILLAGE OF RINELY yard sale (in the Stewartstown area) is Saturday. Sales for 1 mile, the ad says. More than 100 families and food along the way. Rain or shine.

See all the sales listed in The York Dispatch.

Reports have surfaced over the last few days (here and here, for example) about a North Carolina artist who scored an incredible prize at her local Goodwill store. Here at Yard Sale Secrets, we think of Goodwill as a permanent indoor yard sale, so we’re happy to talk about this interesting bit of news.

The “Vertical Diamond” painting was created by artist Ilya Bolotowsky in the 1970s. It was recently “found” at a Goodwill store in North Carolina.

The woman, Beth Feeback, 45, is a professional artist who was shopping at a Goodwill store a few months ago. Along with a few other items, she picked up a couple of paintings for $9.99 each.

One of them, a modern-looking red, white and blue piece, was especially big and she figured she would just reuse it for some of her own work — usually google-eyed cats.

But something stopped her from doing it again and again until she had a friend look at the painting. Her friend figured that it was something worth looking into and eventually they discovered the painting could be worth as much as $20,000. An auction in September through Sotheby’s is planned.

So yard-sale fanatics, how does one spot such a goldmine at your local yard sale or charity store? Some tips (even though we’ve never managed such a coup):

• JUDGE ITS UNIQUENESS: Look at the item and try to determine how unique it is. If it’s a piece of art — from a sculpture to a painting — try to figure out if it is a reproduction or not. If it has a manufacturer’s logo, it’s probably mass produced. In paintings, look for “piles” of paint versus a flat screen print. In sculptures, look for fingerprints and other “non-polished” marks that imply it’s one of a kind. If it has seams, it probably isn’t.
• JUDGE ITS AGE: First edition books can be extremely valuable. If you see a pile of old books at a sale, look at the title page and try to determine if it’s a first printing. You also want it to be a recognizable book too — you know something by Jack London or Ernest Hemmingway. Old paintings and other works of art can also be extremely valuable. Originals or first printings are a must.
• JUDGE ITS SELLER: Look at all the other stuff the seller is trying to get rid of. Are they clearing out their grandma’s house? Do they appear to know what they’re selling? Does this old and unique item seem to be out of place? Or does it look like it was forgotten until now? All these can be clues to a great find.
• JUDGE ITS PRESENCE: This is about as abstract of a tip as we can offer, but take a look at the item — does it seem to stand out? Does it just have some indescribable quality? No matter how big or how small it is, does it just take over the room (or in the case of a yard sale — the table)? If you answered yes to some or all of those questions, you might have something.

Saturday shoppers probably really benefited from dire forecasts for last Friday. That may have kept the biggest shoppers at home, leaving more for the Saturday folks. Even Saturday didn’t look so hot. The day began with some sprinkles, and the skies were gray most of the day.

The Yard Sale Secrets team hit the streets anyway, and we were quite thrilled with what we picked up.

We picked up these three pieces of jewelry for $1 a piece. That means they’re nothing special value-wise, but they sure are cute!

These scrapbooking supplies came in a Ziplock bag for $5. We won’t use all of them, but there was a huge variety of stickers that made it a good buy.

This group of buys is all about the boys. We have the “Thing” version of Hulk Hands which cost $2. A book about sci-fi space ships goes well with a DVD of the new Star Trek movies. The pink things are a “rubbing craft” kit that lets little kids make greeting cards. The black item at the bottom is a similar “rubbing craft” but much cooler — it lets you create superheroes and monsters by switching heads, torsos and legs. Finally a big packet of permanent markers for even more craft and drawing fun.

These shirts, which include two sweaters and two button-ups, were less than $2 each.

Another odd lot features 2 CDs, one by the hopelessly sappy Dan Fogelberg and the other an album of covers by Poison. Also in the picture is a kids book and an Indiana Jones action figure. In 2008, that figure cost $9 retail … on Saturday he was 50 cents.

This big box of Goosebumps books was $12 for about 40 books. Our little Yard Sale Secret staff member just loves these, but that will probably be more Goosebump books than we’ll ever need.

We were giddy with excitement when we saw this chic Coach purse at the sale. It was marked at $20, but we got it for $15. Even if it turns out to be a counterfeit, it looks good.

With the sweltering temps ready to break,  this should be a lovely weekend for a yard sale. Friday is supposed to be overcast with highs only in the lower 70s. Saturday gets  a tad warmer, in the low 80s.  Thunderstorms are possible both days, but the forecast still looks nicer than the last several weekends.

Here are our best bets, as taken from The York Dispatch classifieds:

MULTI-FAMILY

• Pine Springs Community in Spring Grove holds a yard sale Friday and Saturday starting at 7 both days. This one boasts lots of everything, including plumbing, electrical, Fenton glass and military items.
• In Spry, a multi-family sale at Paula Drive and Old Colony Road Friday and Saturday has country CD’s, Jack LaLane juicer and 60s lights.
• The annual Yorklyn community sale is Friday and Saturday with more than 20 homes. “Come with an open mind and imagination to find that special item,” the ad says.
• A multi-family sale at 205 and 207 Kendale Road in Red Lion Friday and Saturday goes 8-5 both days. This one has a flat screen monitor.
• The Crestwood East neighborhood has a sale Thursday through Saturday with more than 17 houses involved. The ad warns DO NOT MISS OUT!

INTERESTING ITEMS

• A sale Friday and Saturday at 2875 York Haven Road has cast iron kettles, boat cover, case of Coke bottles and fishing rods.
• A HUGE moving sale at 27 Valley Road in Shrewsbury goes 9-5 both days and has household goods, shoes, patterns and fabric, camping potty and “much, much more including the house!”

INTERESTING AD

Support your veterans yard sale/bake sale is Friday and Saturday at the VFW at 333 Eberts Lane in Springettsbury Township. It’s a multi-family sale.  Kuhn Dog Chicken BBQ on Saturday starts at noon. Dog chicken?