try getting plastic buckets to store flour in ( the kind that joint compound or cat litter come in, with snap lids. ) Sometimes you can get them from restaurants or bakeries, donut filling comes in them also.
As long as you have holes, mice will come in. Get a can of expanding foam and seal up holes.
I have used the bars also, I leave them in my attic every winter. The pellets are not as good as the mice just move them around a lot. The bars, they have to gnaw on it and eat some. Brand names are Tomcat or Hawk.
they will chew and make holes in fabrics and quilts.