Cupcakes

This evening, I made cupcakes for the first time of my adult life.

Here are the little ones before they went in the oven:

Here are the little ones after I let them get a little toasty:
I'm guessing the larger ones are more the color yellow cake mix should end up?

And how much cake on top of the cup is ideal for decorating?

I've been looking at all sorts of fancy cupcakes on Flickr, and it had me all inspired to make some of my own. But I'm starting to have second thoughts. Mine do not look nearly as uniform as the lovely pics.

Any cupcaking tips (baking or decorating) would be welcome at this point.

Thanks!