I gently hammer the ear wires with a mallet, patina if desired and then tumble them for a couple of hours to work harden them.
Additionally, when making more than one pair at a time, I hook each ear wire to its mate before it goes in the tumble. Otherwise, I end up hunting the pairs. Even if you don't tumble your ear wires, I recommend attaching each ear wire to its mate for ease in finding it later.