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Here’s how to make your own Shepard hook earring findings using a wig-a-ma-jig!
I’ve already shown you how to make your own earring findings, here and here. But I haven’t shown you a way to make more traditional earring hooks from scratch. These simple Shepard hook earrings findings are made using some 0.8mm thick wire and a special contraption designed for wire-work called a ‘Wig-a-ma-jig’! Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need the following tools and materials to make your Shepard hook earring findings:
1: Some cutting pliers to cut your wire to length and trim any excess.
2: A pair of flat nose pliers to do some extra shaping to your earring hooks if required.
3: A Wig-a-ma-jig tool with pegs to create the shape for your earring hooks.
4: A needle file for smoothing the ends of your earrings, some sandpaper can be useful for getting a smooth finish as well.
5: Some wire. I used some copper wire in this demonstration but I suggest using sterling silver wire as it is a more suitable material for sensitive piercings. I used two pieces of copper wire about 0.8mm in diameter and about 8-10cm long. You will have some excess at the end that you will need to trim.
Follow these steps to make your earring hooks:
1: Arrange the Wig-a-ma-jig pins in the following formation, this will form the shape of your earring. The first peg is the bottom loop of the earring hook, the large top peg forms the arch of the earring and the last peg helps make the ‘kick’ at the end of the earring where it goes through your piercing.
2: Place the wire between the first two pegs as indicated in the picture below.
3: Take the long end of the wire and shape it around the large peg to form an arch
4: Loop the short end of the wire around the first smaller peg to form a circle shape, there will be some overlap at the end of the wire.
5: Kink the end of the wire underneath the last peg, there will be a lot of excess wire that will be trimmed later. You can see this pictured in the image above.
6: Take the wire shape off of the pegs. Do this carefully so as not to bend it out of the shape you just made.
7: Use the cutting pliers to trim the excess wire from the end of the earring and the loop overlap.
8: File the ends you just trimmed so they are smooth and won’t poke anyone wearing your earrings.
9: Repeat steps 2-8 for the second earring ensuring that the match.
Here’s my second earring on the jig 
Once I had both earrings made, I did some small adjustments on them using my flat nose pliers to make sure they sat flat and were a nice shape, once I was happy with how they looked, these new earring findings were ready to use in a new earring creation! Below is a picture of the finished set of earring hooks.
Making your own jewellery findings is a great way to elevate your jewelry designs and have them feel even more unique and special. What will you attach to your hand made Shepard hook earring findings?
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Here’s how you can make your own sterling silver earring hooks that are embellished with gorgeous beads!
I love using pre-made earring hooks, but sometimes I want to add some additional luxe to my earring designs, so I make my own one-of-a-kind earring hooks that are embellished with some special beads. Follow along if you want to learn how to make your own, unique earring hooks out of sterling silver wire. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need the following tools and materials to make this pair of earring hooks:
1: Two pieces of sterling silver wire, about 0.8mm in diameter and 7cm long each. (cut the wire with your cutting pliers).
2: A pair of parallel flat nose pliers, or ordinary flat nose pliers. The parallel pliers makes it easier to grip both earrings at once when you are shaping them.
3: A file and some sandpaper.
Find files here:
Find sandpaper here:
4: Two beads. I used some agate gemstone beads.
5: A pair of round flat pliers for forming the loop at the end of the earring hooks. It is also handy to keep your round nose pliers around as well.
Follow these steps to make your own bespoke earring hooks featuring a beaded embellishment:
1: File the ends of the wires so they are no longer sharp, use the sandpaper afterwards to soften the ends.
2: Use the round flat nose pliers or flat nose pliers to bend the end of each piece of wire to form an angle.
3: Create a loop using the bent part of the wire as a guide. You want to make a loop at the end of each piece of wire.
4: Add a bead to each of the wires
5: Grip each wire between the mouth of the parallel flat nose pliers and bend them at the same points, so they sit at equal lengths. Bending the wire will mean that the bead won’t come off (but be warned, seed bead sized beads can still slide around the corners of this design, the bigger the bead, the less likely it is to fall off your earring hook).
6: Once you have bent your earrings, you can adjust them slightly to form the square top to your liking using your fingers and pliers.
Now your earring hooks are done! They’re ready for some cute dangly charms!
Here’s what they look like with some brass triangle charms on them.
And here are some similar designs I have made using this earring hook technique. These ones feature patinated copper charms, you can learn to patina copper here.
This fun pair of earrings features a rainbow of seed beads and an adorable mushroom charm, you can purchase them here.
